European Son: a novella Reviewed By Gordon Osmond of Bookpleasures.com

Gordon Osmond

Reviewer Gordon Osmond : Gordon is a produced and
award-winning playwright and author of: So You Think You Know English--A Guide to English for Those Who
Think They Don't Need One,Wet Firecrackers--The
Unauthorized Autobiography of Gordon Osmondand his debut novel
Slipping on Stardust.

He has reviewed books and
stageplays for http://CurtainUp.com and for the Bertha Klausner
International Literary Agency. He is a graduate of Columbia College
and Columbia Law School and practiced law on Wall Street for many
years before concentrating on writing fiction and non-fiction. You
can find out more about Gordon by clicking
HERE

Very much in the tradition
of literary existentialism, Mr. Levy has created a familiar but
nonetheless fascinating lost soul searching for life’s true meaning
through the relentless pursuit of pleasure without much direction
from any moral compass.

The principal character of
European Son, who coyly refuses to disclose his name, speaks in the
first person. His story is told in choppy “chapters” which in
turn are divided into even shorter sections. One such “chapter”
consists of a single sentence, albeit a compound/complex one; another
is comprised of a single simple sentence repeated dozens of times.
Bits of poetry are sprinkled here and there as well.

The novella’s action
alternates between present and past and bounces among the United
States, Amsterdam, and finally France—where else?-- like pieces of
a puzzle akin to the model-less jigsaw puzzle which occupies some of
the players at one point. This highly fragmented narrative technique
works well in maintaining reader interest throughout this short and
stylish work.

The book’s “hero” is
as compelling as a loose tooth. He’s irritating, but you can’t
ignore or fail to be fascinated by him. Orphaned and adopted, he
joins a “sister” already in residence, with whom he develops a
tortured and gripping relationship. His sexual ambidexterity is well
expressed as he fits easily into, and sometimes generates romantic
triangles, in one case acting as a kind of pro bono pimp. On two
occasions, he shows an inaptitude for drowning and both he and his
sister approach bondage half-heartedly, binding only one ankle and
one wrist of their respective playmates. And let’s not forget to
mention that our European son is both a voyeur and narcissist.
(Indeed, there may be some plain creatures on the Riviera, but none
finds any place of importance in this novella.) He’s also a
murderer, but only in italics.

The narrative is cadenced,
airy, and very much on the minimalist side. No scene comes even close
to wearing out its welcome. My only cavils were the author’s use of
the exactly reverse expression, “We could have cared less” to
express acute indifference and turning the noun “cup” into a verb
when describing the fondling of a female breast. This “cupping”
thing is ubiquitous in romance novels, which can’t hold a candle to
Mr. Levy’s work. On the other hand, I found dropping coins in lieu
of a handkerchief to attract a target’s attention absolutely
charming.

If one is looking for
confirmation that heroic good looks don’t guarantee happiness, and
if one is not turned off by the longeurs of nouvelle vague films,
European Son will deeply satisfy.